Community 
The Missional Life | God of the City - 5.23.2010
It is the duty of every Christian to be Christ to his neighbor.
- Martin Luther
When the righteous prosper, the city rejoices;
when the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy.
– Proverbs 11:10 NIV
Readings from: The Externally Focused Church, pp. 20-21.
The second recipient of the externally focused church’s energy is the city. Externally focused churches have moved past being angry with the city to wanting to be a blessing to the city. Much has been written about “taking back our cities” for God, but really, much of this is testosterone-driven language that reinforces the idea of being at war with the city.
This is not the language of Jesus. Probably the verse most of us remember from Jeremiah 29 is verse 11: “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’“ This is the kind of verse everyone likes to hear. But have you ever gone back to beginning of the passage? It’s really a message from God to those “Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon” (Jeremiah 29:1). The Israelites were now captive people living in foreign lands in what is now Iraq. God advises them how to live as strangers and aliens. He tells them to join in the life and rhythms of the city: “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease” (Jeremiah 29:4-6).
The key verse in this message pertains to their relationship with the city: “Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you to exile. Pray to the Lord for it because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” What? Pray for this godless, pagan city? You’ve got to be kidding! Nope. That’s what God said. So the believers were to do two things: actively seek the peace and prosperity of the city and pray for the city. (By the way, this is how both Daniel and Nehemiah gained such favor with the cities inhabitants.) Externally focused churches look for ways to seek and promote the welfare of the city.
Most school districts face tough times. In 2001 Kansas City was hit by economic hardships and the accompanying sagging morale of teachers and administrators. The previous twenty years had seen eighteen superintendents come and seventeen of them leave. Rather than wringing his hands,. Pastor Adam Hamilton of United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, decided to do something to bless his city. From the pulpit, he challenged teachers and administrators in his suburban congregation to leave their suburban jobs and begin teaching in the inner city. He also had cards available, addressed to every employee of the Kansas City School District—all 5,700 of them. He challenged each person in attendance (approximately 5,700 people) to take a card, to pray for the person named on it, and, as God would lead, to write a note of encouragement and thanks to that teacher, administrator, custodian, or cafeteria worker. The cards weren’t bulk mailed from the church; rather, each person addressed and stamped a personal letter and included a personal returned address on the envelope. Many included their phone numbers and offers to help.
Questions:
• In contrast to being angry with their city, what do externally focused churches do for their city? Why do you think this is?
• According to the author, how does God’s exhortation to the Israelites in Jeremiah 29:4-7 become an example for the church today?
• How does the example of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas encourage your imagination for how a church can impact its city?
Scripture Study:
Read Jeremiah 29:1-7:
• Why do you think God instruct the Israelites be a productive part of Babylon while they were in exile away from Israel?
• Like the Israelites in Babylon, Christians often feel like foreigners in the world around them. What can we learn from this passage about the way God would encourage us to participate in our city?
• With your small group, list ways our church can promote the welfare of our city.
Read Luke 10:25-37:
• How is our love for God connected to our love for our neighbor?
• Jews did not like Samaritans. By making the Samaritan the hero of this story, what did Jesus teach his audience (and us) about loving our neighbor?
• How would our cities be impacted if followers of Christ exemplified their love for God by loving their neighbors as Jesus teaches in this passage?
Conclusion:
• Many of the New Testament Epistles (letters) were written to the church of a specific city (i.e. Romans → the church in Rome, Corinthians → the church in Corinth). How do you think the early local churches’ identities being connected with their city impacted their ministry?
• What do you think would happen if we saw ourselves connected to our community like the early church did?